The Mariners are as excited to see Ian Snell pitch as their fans, since most of them haven't seen him.

What they're hoping to see tonight is not just stuff but the ability to throw it deeper into games than, say, the fifth inning.

For a team built on pitching and defense, the Mariners can't afford to abuse their bullpen as they have recently - that's a no-win situation, and among the reasons the Mariners have won all that many games lately.

Still, the back-to-back winning months of June and July give Seattle two more winning months than all of 2008.

August has begun 1-0. Can they make it three in a row?

And can the Mariners rally tonight to split the series with Texas after losing the first two games?
Franklin Gutierrez has the night off, Ryan Langerhans is in center field and Ken Griffey Jr. - coming off his three-hit night - is batting fourth.

It's Snell vs. Scott Feldman.

Don't fall behind

Against big league hitters, pitching behind usually means falling behind on the score board, too.

After getting the first two hitters on a pop fly and called third strike, Snell fell beind David Murphy, 3-1, threw a fastball and watched it land in the upper deck in right field.

After one: Rangers 1, Mariners 0

Now, they've seen him

Feldman beat the Mariners on July 10, and needed only three innings to go through the lineup the first time tonight.

The Marinrs don't have a hit yet, and their lone baserunner - on a walk - was followed by a ground ball double play.

It's going to be tough for Snell to win if the Mariners don't score ...

Even through three

Snell has thrown 46 pitches in his first three innings - 23 strikes, 23 balls.

That's a hard ratio to maintain and stay in the game, but through three innings he's allowed only one run, on a solo homer.

Here comes Seattle

Rob Johnson singled, Michael Saunders walked and Ichiro singled to load the bases opening the sixth.

Russell Branyan grounded slowly to second base, scoring Johnson, and Jose Lopez singled into shallow center to get Saunders home.

Not much offense but enough, at this point, to give Snell a lead.

In the sixth: Mariners 2, Rangers 1

Short-lived lead

Michael Young led off the sixth with a home run and the game was even.

After six: Mariners 2, Rangers 2

Short-lived tie

Sean White in for Snell after six innings, gave up a leadoff single, got one out and then threw a pitch down and in to Jarrod Saltamacchia the catcher hit for his ninth home run.

After seven: Rangers 4, Mariners 2

One last shot

Branyan was hit by a C.J. Wilson pitch, and Jose Lopez singled to get Griffey Jr. to the plate down by two.

Junior grounded out, moving both runners up a base. Jack Hannahan struck out. Jack Wilson struck out.

By the way, for those who wonder: Snell came out because his right forearm stiffened up. He was hit there by a line drive in his last start, and Seattle was taking no chances.

It's a final: Rangers 4, Mariners 2

Erik Bedard passed one small test today and will face a larger one Tuesday, when he throws his first bullpen since going on the disabled with shoulder inflammation.

"Today is a big day to see where he’s at," manager Don Wakamatsu said. "We'll try to push him a little. If he feels good, we’ll continue down this path. If he feels the same thing in there, we’ll probably have him looked at again.

"If it hasn t gotten any better, we'll probably have an MRI done. If he feels something, that's a red flag."

Bedard then walked into the outfield and played catch. How did he feel afterward?

"I felt fine," Bedard said, surprised to be asked. "It was just playing catch. I probably won't know how I'm feeling until I throw the bullpen in Kansas City."

So, no pain today?

"No, but again, I was just playing catch," he said.

Bedard will throw a bullpen Tuesday, after which he'll either feel fine or feel less than fine - at which point the Mariners will likely have him get an MRI on his left shoulder.